MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) is eyeing to complete within the year the inspection of power projects that will benefit host local government units (LGUs).

In a statement yesterday, the DOE said it has tasked Electric Power Industry Management Bureau – Rural Electrification Administration and Management Division (EPIMB-REAMD) to complete the inspection of the all projects funded under ER 1-94 program or Benefit to Host Communities Program within the year.

So far, the EPIMB-REAMD has successfully inspected 53 out of 72 development projects that have been implemented by various LGUs hosting generating facilities or power plants.

“The DOE has been working hard to complete the close-out of ER 1-94 projects so that the succeeding financial benefits will benefit the host communities directly,” Cusi said.

The inspections are in line with the circular signed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, which redirects the administration of ER 1-94 program to LGUs.

It also follows the first implementation advisory letter on the guidelines for the direct remittance of financial benefits by generation companies to their host communities starting this year.

Under the program, LGUs are entitled to avail of financial benefits for hosting energy resources and/or energy-generating facilities within their territorial jurisdiction.

The program provides for generation companies and/or energy resource developers to set aside P0.01 per kilowatt-hour of their total electricity sales as financial benefits to host communities.

The said amount shall be allocated to three types of funds: one-half of one centavo for the electrification fund of the concerned distribution utilities, one-fourth of one centavo for the development and livelihood fund and another one-fourth of one centavo for reforestation, watershed management, health and/or environment enhancement fund of the host LGUs.

Before President Rodrigo Duterte left Thursday for his one-on-one with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, he promised to “invoke” the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague that resolved some maritime disputes between the two neighbors.

Eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel from the US and ten Southeast Asian countries will join maritime drills kicking off Monday, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).